Emmys 2018 Predictions: Who Will Win?

TV Guide

Friday

Sep 14, 2018 at 1:06 PMSep 17, 2018 at 4:45 PM

TV's biggest night of the year, the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards, has finally arrived. We're just hours away from finding out which shows will take home the awards for Best Drama and Best Comedy, which means you have very little time to finalize your ballot if you want to have any chance of winning your Emmys pool.

If you're still struggling between The Americans' Matthew Rhys and This Is Us' Sterling K. Brown for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, or if you can't decide if anyone has a chance to beat Atlanta for Best Comedy, you can breathe a little easier now because TV Guide has you covered.

Below you'll find our predictions for all the major categories, so study up, plan your ballots and prepare to impress your friends.

The Nominees:The Americans The Crown Game of Thrones The Handmaid's Tale Stranger Things This Is Us Westworld

Who Will Win: The Handmaid's Tale I'm going to be brutally honest -- because if you can't be brutal when it comes to The Handmaid's Tale, when can you? -- I don't think the second season of Hulu's dystopian nightmare is worthy of winning the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. It swerved too far in the wrong direction and turned off too many viewers in the process. But the series is still relevant, whether we want it to be or not. It is also well made, and the incredible performances at its center are strong enough that even if the narrative quality of the series doesn't carry it to the podium, everything else definitely does. So yeah, don't be surprised if The Handmaid's Tale repeats. -Kaitlin Thomas

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best drama race here.

The Nominees:Jason Bateman, Ozark Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us Ed Harris, Westworld Matthew Rhys, The Americans Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Who Will Win: Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us I erased Matthew Rhys' name from here because after six seasons of fantastic performances that should fill a trophy case, Emmys still elude everyone on The Americans not named Margo Martindale. History has spoken, and I just don't have much faith that voters will do the right thing this year. That leaves Brown -- a favorite pick among award voters -- ahead of what's a mediocre field this year. This Is Us has lost its luster, and we still don't understand how anyone from Westworld got nominated for anything this year when Zahn McClarnon (who killed it as Akecheta) was overlooked. -Tim Surette

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best drama race here.

Who Will Win: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's TaleIt's not that the other women in this category aren't talented or deserving, it's that Elisabeth Moss' performance in the second season of The Handmaid's Tale is the kind of performance that makes viewers stand up and take notice. She managed to take every single thing that won her this same award last year and then somehow did more. Whether she was stark naked portraying the agonizing pains of childbirth in an abandoned house or mentally going toe-to-toe with Yvonne Strahovski's headstrong Serena, Moss put on a master class in a TV show that was full of incredible performances. -Kaitlin Thomas

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best drama actress race here.

Who Will Win: David Harbour, Stranger Things Sorry, the time to give out acting nods for anyone in Game of Thrones passed a long time ago, so Tyrion and Jaime are out. Patinkin has been great for years on Homeland, but if he didn't win before, he's not going to win for this past season. Fiennes was fine, but Handmaid's belongs to Elisabeth Moss. That's not to say Harbour wins by process of elimination, he has earned this. -Tim Surette

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the supporting drama actor race here.

Who Will Win: Yvonne Strahovski, The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale rightfully dominates this category -- the strength of its impressive female cast makes up for the fact the show's second season didn't live up to the first -- but Yvonne Strahovski is the clear standout in a crowded field. She gave the best performance of her career as Serena, adding richness and depth to a formerly unlikable character who could have easily been one note. -Kaitlin Thomas

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the supporting drama actress race here.

Who Will Win: Atlanta There are really only two contenders in this category, so let's talk about why the others won't win. Barry is the dark horse in the category, but its excess of violence will likely push some voters away (for this season at least). black-ish is great but has had better and more important seasons, so it doesn't make sense for it to win now. Curb is here by familiarity only, and Silicon Valley's best days are behind it. It's nice to see Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt here, but it's not on the level of the contenders, and GLOW improved a lot in its second season, but not only is that not the season up for contention, it is still a year away from serious consideration despite a few standout arcs and episodes. -Tim Surette

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best comedy race here.

Who Will Win: Donald Glover, Atlanta Childish Gambino is basically a lock. He won this award last year and we're betting he'll win again. As Earn Marks, Glover anchors the fantastical elements of Atlanta in a deeply-felt sadness. And as Teddy Perkins, a reclusive white pop star, Glover created the kind of TV moment you'll always remember what it felt like to watch for the first time. -Liam Mathews

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best comedy actor race here.

Who Will Win: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Amazon's marketing department ran a very convincing campaign for why Rachel Brosnahan should win this Emmy, and without last year's winner and Emmys record holder Julia Louis-Dreyfus eligible to vie for her seventh consecutive statue, Brosnahan is definitely the favorite to win. -Liam Mathews

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the best comedy actress race here.

Who Will Win: Henry Winkler, BarryThe nicest guy in Hollywood got the type of meaty role an actor of his caliber deserves at this point in their career. The amount of goodwill Winkler has for this role is amazing, and he's never won a Primetime Emmy before (he has two Daytime Emmys), so he's due. -Liam Mathews

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the supporting comedy actor race here.

Who Will Win: Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live Kate McKinnon has the highest usage rate on the most difficult show in comedy. She's the playoff LeBron James of comedy. But if she wins this Emmy and three-peats, she's going to be more like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. -Liam Mathews

Who should you watch out for? Find out in our detailed breakdown of the supporting comedy actress race here.